


The Berry Men

by TheTragicNoir



Category: Original Work, RWBY
Genre: Corruption, Crew as Family, Gen, Heist, Home, Poverty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 10:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16911459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTragicNoir/pseuds/TheTragicNoir
Summary: On the Slums of Mistral, a group of Faunus thieves are willing to return to their old ways with the purpose of defending their home from any corruption and threat. This is one of many other stories in Remnant.





	The Berry Men

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, me and my editor Redlock13 worked on this chapter long time ago but wasn't sure if to publish it or not. I thought better do it now but with less frequent updates at least because we are still writing on another ongoing story. Hope you like it.
> 
> Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.

On the continent of Anima, the main city of Mistral is known and respected for its many positive and negative contributions to culture. The people here see it as an oasis in an unforgiving land. The rest of the world however will always know Mistral for just its issues: Overcrowding, class disparity and blatant racism. The total Faunus population of the continent is roughly around 24%. 30% of the human population lives in Mistral. What about the rest? Most of them live on the Slums.

The district of Hamu Nashi, mostly known as “The Slums” is where the impoverished and working class people live in large families they can barely feed, working for a system that’s been stacked against them since day one. This is where crime is the highest. It plays a significant role in the life of the residents by either providing protection to their business or by lending money. It was risky, but in a place like this, getting rich and getting a chance to get out is worth it.

Yet, with a lot of criminals on this continent, there was one who stood out among them. His name was Don Gustav Ryszard. Despite being an infamous figure in the underground, it’s been said that he brought stability to the district by protecting the residents, being both the kindest and ruthless person around. He was considered to be a Saint among the residents. This time of happiness however was very short-lived.

One day, in the year of 76 AGW (After the Great War), Don Ryszard suddenly vanished, leaving his right-hand man Zachary Chekhov in charge. While he was equally reasonable, he wasn’t the best at maintaining order in the district. He was struggling a lot with helping the communities, all the while dealing with the Sheriff Yesheng Leng, who was worse than any other criminal in Mistral.

With a tyrant in control, a group of young Faunus known as the Berry Men took on the task of helping the district along with stopping all the injustice with their own hands. They would steal and lie in order to help their people, all the while waiting for Ryszard’s return. Of course, it wasn’t easy for them. As time passed, they were forced to hide in a little place called Sher’s Wood. It was a pub that was located between the Slums and the rest of the districts by running it as a legitimate business.

It was their home, and they would do anything to protect it.

Early in the morning, a Panda Faunus woke up with sore eyes while trying to open the curtains, to get a good view at what was going on in Mistral. He decided to prepare for the day by changing into his regular clothes and washing his face. Outside of the room, at the end of the hallway there was a lot of noise. It was a pub with tables, a bar and a stage. There were already people there.

“G-good morning, N-N-Nori.” A Tanuki Faunus greeted the Panda while carrying some papers. Despite his stuttering, he looked like a pretty composed person.

“Morning, Natto. I see everyone came early, as I appointed.”

“N-not everyone.”

“What? Who’s missing?” Nori asked with shock in his voice.

“D-Dana isn’t here.”

“Figures…” Nori let out a disappointed sigh. “…and do you know where she is?”

“I d-d-don’t know, I already ch-checked her p-place, but she wasn’t t-there.”

“It’s alright. I’ll ask the others. Go and finish the paperwork before we open.” Natto nodded at his friend while Nori walked downstairs to see how everyone was doing.

At first sight, besides Natto, there were five more people around three on the stage, 1 in the kitchen and one behind a table. Nori headed to the one sitting at the table.

“Come on, you call that rhythm!? We want to make the show spectacular, astonishing, breathtaking! Not whatever this trash is!” A Faunus with elegant clothes and a rooster tail was yelling at three Faunus girls with cat attributes that were playing music on the stage. He acted like a diva as he scolded the band.

“Hey Star, have you seen Dana?” Nori asked the pompous Faunus.

“Ah, Tiny Nori! Why so early?” The person called Star replied theatrically, much to Nori’s annoyance.

“Well, maybe I’m here early because I asked you to come at this hour?”

“Oh…true.”

“Anyway, have you seen Dana?”

“My apologies, I haven’t seen that lady this morning, which I could say is a good thing considering how much she criticizes my talent on stage,” Sam said with his chin up.

“What talent?”

“An underappreciated one…say otherwise, or my name isn’t Starlock A’Dayle!”

“Then it isn’t…” Star rolled his eyes after hearing those utterly blasphemous words. “What about you, girls? Seen Dana anywhere?” Nori asked the band.

“Sorry.”

“Nope.”

“Uh uh.” All of them gave the same response; Nori’s patience was running low. “But I think Mr. Tucker might know something.”

“Tucker? Thank you girls…” Nori said while they gave him a thumbs up.

“Now that break time is over let’s start from the beginning. And one, and two, and…” The band started playing the music while Star paid close attention to the music.

Nori entered into the kitchen, where he found a Turtle Faunus sitting on a chair, sleeping. It was completely unprofessional. He was lucky they weren’t open yet. “Hey, wake up Sheldon…” Nori tried to wake up the sleeping man with a few gentle pushes, with no efficient results. “Oh well, it looks like I’ll have to throw this box of cucumbers back to the supply room.”

“Did somebody say cucumbers?” Sheldon woke up as he jumped off his seat, searching left and right with a confused look as he couldn’t see the box.

“Enjoying the nap?”

“Hey that’s not fair; you shouldn’t trick me like that.”

“And you shouldn’t sleep in the kitchen a few minutes before opening. Anyway, have you seen Dana?”

“She isn’t here yet?”

“I already asked everyone here, and it’s driving me crazy.” Nori was rubbing his eyes in desperation. Sheldon went to the fridge to get some good looking for breakfast.

“All I can tell you is that she’ll come back a bit later.,” Sheldon said while preparing himself a sandwich.

“You have to be kidding me. Why does she always do whatever she feels like?” Nori sat on a chair while trying to reflect on his friend’s behavior.

“Well, she’s been on the loose ever since her brother went to Atlas last year.” Sheldon took a bite of his sandwich, acting instead casually, contrasting the tone of the conversation.

“I know…He was the only one that could keep her in line... mostly…”

“Look, the best I can tell you right now is to just leave her alone. She’s already got enough stuff to deal with as is. It’s already enough that she’s taking care of us and that blind uncle of hers..”

“I guess it’s been quite rough for us these past few days. That stupid Sheriff. He’s always trying to leave us on the ruin.”

“But that’s just my word of advice. Let’s just do business as usual and everything will be fine. We’ll eventually come out on top. Slowly but surely.” Sheldon’s wise words calmed Nori at that moment.

“Oddly enough, I think you’re right.” Nori cracked a smile. Sheldon was done eating. He picked up his chef’s apron and got to work.

“Now if you excuse me, I’ll start ordering the kitchen. I can already hear some of the customers lining up outside.” That being said, they started taking their positions.

Both Faunus began accommodating everything around the pub, with Natto in his office, Star and the girls behind stage, Sheldon already turning on the stoves, and Nori right behind his place at the bar, doing the work of a bartender. With Dana absent, that left her position of waitress to Nori. ‘I hope she knows what she’s doing.’ He thought to himself as he attended to the first customer of the day with worried eyes.

* * *

 Walking around on a shiny day through Mistral’s Market District, a Faunus girl with a fox tail was passing around from stand to stand, admiring the products as she went by. She was whistling a tune as if the world was about to end.  It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

“Where’s the money!?” Not too far from her, she heard a human man yelling at an old lady behind a fruit stand.

“I’m afraid I don’t have enough at the moment, young man.”

“Then give me what you have now. I’ll come back for the rest.” The man had a distinctive tattoo of a spider on his left hand. He looked like the kind of person you wouldn’t want to make angry. He took 300 Lien from the old lady’s frail hands. The man absolutely didn’t care.

After he was done with his collecting, the Faunus girl walked towards the thug, bumping into him. The thug was visibly furious. “Watch where you’re walking!”

“Sorry. I’m kind of blind so that I couldn’t see you.” The Faunus girl excused herself.

“You better watch your step. It’s a good tip to follow unless you want to get yourself killed.” The thug kept walking on. He ignored the Faunus as if she had ceased to exist. She began to check out the old lady’s fruit stand.

“Hello, what would you like, sweetie?” The old lady asked the Faunus girl.

“How much for a bag of blueberries?”

“That would be 15 Lien per bag, dearie.” The lady expressed the enthusiasm while trying to grab some bags.

“I would like two, please.”

“Sure thing...” As soon the old lady started filling the bags with berries, the Faunus girl handed over a wallet with a total of 500 Lien wrapped neatly inside it. “Oh my…this is... too much. I can’t accept that.” Her eyes opened wide as she observed the money.

“You can keep it. I’ve always loved these ever since I was a little girl.” The Faunus gave her the money as she winked at her with one eye. She put her pointer finger on her lips, gesturing to her that she should keep quiet about it. The old lady accepted and silently whispered her gratitude.

Two bags of blueberries, no matter how much she loved them it was too much for her to eat alone. After wandering around, she stopped at a nearby bench. She continued watching the street alone. It was ironic how peaceful it looked. Despite how many terrible things were happening in the world, it seemed like everyone had none of it on their minds.

She threw a few berries in the air and started catching them with her mouth. From the few berries she threw, she only missed three times. As she was eating, a much younger Faunus girl with hair that resembled a lion’s mane was approaching her with a playful smile. “Hi Dana!” She sat next to the Fox Faunus called Dana.

“Hey Alexandrite, how are you?” Dana greeted the little girl.

“I’m fine; I just finished my tutoring class with Mr. Zachary.”

“That’s good. You’ll become very successful if you keep studying hard.”

“Yeah but it’s so boring! I just want to play! Would you like to play with me?” Alexandrite begged with much excitement on her eyes.

“Sorry, I’m just taking a break before heading back to work.”

“I understand…” The little girl gave her a disappointed look.

“How about a little present instead?”

“Present!? What is it? Tell me, tell me! Pleeeeeeease!” Alexandrite couldn’t wait to see what Dana had for her.

“Here…” She handed over the second bag of berries to the little girl. “I bet you can’t help yourself eating just a few of them.”

“Wow! Thank you so much!” The little girl was pleased. Both of the Faunus were eating berries together while playing around and laughing. They acted as if they were sisters. With all the fun things they were doing, Alexandrite started blushing as she a question she wanted to ask. “Dana, do you know when your brother is coming back?”

“Him? You know he won’t come back until he graduates, right?”

“Awww? Why can’t he study here instead?” The girl asked with a sad frown on her face.

“I don’t know. He thought going to Atlas would help him earn more Lien as a Huntsman there than here.” Dana was looking at the floor, thinking exactly how her brother really felt about it. “What about your grandpa? Has he returned yet?”

“Uh uh, still nothing about him. Mr. Zachary is a good person, but I miss gramps.”

“We all do…” Dana was trying her best to keep smiling in front of her friend, but it was difficult. She stood up and gave the rest of her berries to Alexandrite. “Take them. I have to go back to work. I will play with you later, alright?”

“Alright, nice to see you again. Bye bye!” They parted ways; Dana went back to the market and Alexandrite went back to her house that was not too far from the bench.

Walking alone again through the middle of the street, the Faunus was checking up on each merchant to see what she could buy for her workplace, probably as an “apology” for being absent. Wishing things would be that simple, the same thug from earlier appeared in front of Dana and sure as hell wasn’t happy.

“You! Give me back my wallet, bitch!”

“Oh, you mean this? Take it.” Dana threw the wallet back to him; he caught it and began to inspect it.

“What the hell, it’s empty! What did you do with it!?” He yelled as he threw his wallet at the floor in spite.

“I don’t know, but I think you had way too much so I just thought it’d be nice to share some of it…” Dana spoke in a childishly mocking tone.

“You little…give me back my money, or there’ll be hell to pay!” He drew his weapon; a simple mace that any person inspecting it would describe as primitive.

“Go ahead, but I doubt you would be able to get your money back.” She stuck her tongue out as she ran away from the thug. He began chasing after her through the crowded market.

The huge crowd in the street gave Dana an advantage. She was able to go through them while making it hard for her pursuer to move. The further they went into the center of the street, the emptier it became, leaving no places for the Faunus to hide. She decided to boost herself upward by jumping on a pile of boxes, taking the high ground and running away from the thug.

“Hey! Get back here, you stupid critter!’ The thug yelled pushed some people from the crowd aside. Dana was jumping from stand to stand with a confident look in her eyes, but she wasn’t the lucky one. On that moment she jumped on top of a rugged old stand, it swiftly crumbled into many tiny pieces.

There was nothing but fish all over the place. Dana was disgusted at how the only thing surrounded her in Remnant that she didn’t like.

“You have nowhere to run, girly.” The thug was finally able to catch her, pointing his mace at the Faunus’ face.

“Look, can’t we solve this in a more civilized manner…?” Dana’s hand was slowly moving away to her left.

“No use, better give me back my money or I will bring some of my friends. They have a way of dealing with your kind.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I was never fond of hard work in my life, stinky fish-face!” The Faunus pulled a stick towards her. The stick in question was a support that kept all the fish from falling. The hanged fish fell on the thugs face, blinding him with both odor and sliminess. Dana took advantage of this and kicked the thug in his you-know-what. It hurt quite a lot.

The crowd was blocking her way out. She found herself trapped between the group and the thug. He took the fish off of his face and proceeded to give the Faunus a furious glance. He rushed towards her, only missing as she rolled around to avoid the blow.

Dana saw an old man in an apron using a broom. As she saw him, she got a brilliant idea. She swiftly approached to him. “Sorry gramps, I’ll have to borrow this for a moment.” She took the broom from his hands while the old man started grunting nonsensically. As she turned her head to the thug, she ducked and hit him again in the stomach.

She parried all of his attacks and also managed to land a few hits on his head. It felt like an early martial arts movie merged with a slapstick comedy. The stunts she managed to pull would have gotten her hired as a stunt double in a heartbeat. The Faunus made a low swing at the thug’s legs which made him fall. She kicked him while he was still on the ground, sending him to where the fishes were. He was soaked in salt water and raw fish all over him.

“That should teach you on how to treat a lady properly. Be glad you’re just lying next to the fishes and not sleeping with them.” Despite having enough time to taunt him, Dana noticed more thugs with the same spider tattoo were heading towards her. She decided to run to an alleyway hoping to lose them.

“Don’t lose her!” One of the pursuers said to the others as they all split up and went in different directions while covering a wider area. They were able to see her from time to time, but it seemed that she was still out of their reach. The area felt like a maze as they tried to catch her, but with no success.

“Are you looking for someone?” An old man with a raspy voice covered in blankets was sitting while speaking to one of the thugs.

“We are looking for a Faunus girl with a fox tail. Have you seen her!?”

“Sure I did, if my eyes didn’t deceive me, I believe she went in that direction.” Everyone thanked the old man and kept running to the appointed direction. As he heard every single one of them leaving the area, he started to laugh maniacally with no one around. “Shehehehe, those guys will never learn, will they?”

He stood up and threw away the blankets, showing a fox tail at the end. “Seriously though, I’m already late for work. I must hurry!” The old man’s voice started to change to the Faunus girl’s natural feminine tone. She was touching her throat with two fingers to morph the sound of her voice. It was an everyday routine she put on for many of her schemes. She enjoyed deceiving her enemies with clever ideas. After the dust settled and the coast was clear, she decided that it might be time to go back to pub for another boring day of work.


End file.
